Biden Administration Plans Medicare and Medicaid Coverage for Costly Obesity Drugs Amidst Financial Concerns

The Biden administration has put forth a proposal to extend Medicare and Medicaid coverage to include costly obesity drugs such as Wegovy and Zepbound, with the intention of providing broader access to effective weight management medications[1][2]. Currently, Medicare is legally prohibited from covering these weight loss drugs, and coverage under Medicaid is only partial in several states. By recognizing obesity as a chronic disease, the proposal could potentially extend coverage to 3.4 million Medicare and 4 million Medicaid beneficiaries, which is a significant step given the rising obesity rates in the U.S. This measure, while potentially reducing out-of-pocket expenses for patients due to protections from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, poses a considerable budgetary impact with an estimated cost of $40 billion over the next decade for government healthcare budgets[1][2].